Local News

Crowd turns out for Fort Morgan Vets Day event

A group of veterans enjoys refreshments and each other's company at the Veterans Day celebration Friday at the Fort Morgan Senior Center.

"God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above."

The notes and words of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" filled the Fort Morgan Senior Center on Friday afternoon, as about 50 children from Trinity Lutheran School performed at the Veterans Day celebration.

They were singing about the many services that the veterans from Morgan County and from all over the United States had provided to this country, whether serving at home or somewhere else around the world, and whether in combat or during times of peace.

The children also sang other patriotic songs, including: "The Star-Spangled Banner," "America the Beautiful" and "Proud to Be an American.

Fort Morgan Mayor Terry McAlister thanks the crowd of around 140 for coming to the Veterans Day celebration Friday at the Fort Morgan Senior Center, while city worker Deanna Kriegh cuts the cake.

"

The children weren't the only ones providing entertainment during the celebration, which drew a crowd large enough to fill the Senior Center.

The Fort Morgan Senior Dancercizers also put on a show, wearing red sequined vests and dancing to Glenn Miller songs.

City workers estimated there were around 140 people there, including the singers and dancers.

And a cake frosted to look like an American Flag was shared by all after Mayor Terry McAlister, who spoke at the start of the program, said a few more words thanking and recognizing the veterans, and then city worker Deanna Kriegh cut enough pieces for everyone to enjoy.

"Where would we be without our veterans?" McAlister rhetorically asked. "We owe everything to them.

Advertisement

This is a special day."

The program is not something that Fort Morgan has done every year, but a special effort to put one together was made by city workers upon the request of the Senior Center Advisory Board, according to Jane Perkins, city recreation/senior center services and events coordinator.

"We started planning this two months ago," Perkins said.

Once they got started, things just kind of fell into place, she said. The Trinity students volunteered to sing, and the Dancercizers put together a short show.

About 50 children from the Trinity Lutheran School Singers shown here were part of the entertainment Friday at the Veterans Day celebration at Fort Morgan Senior Center. They sang patriotic songs, such as "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful" and "This Land is Your Land" for the large crowd, which included many veterans.

Local businesses also helped out, with The Flower Petaler donating a red-white-and-blue flower arrangement for the head table.

"It's so great that the kids wanted to do something for the vets," Perkins said.

Mentioning her son-in-law's service in Iraq, Perkins said the Veterans Day celebration was something that she was thrilled to be able to hold.

"This is super close to my heart, to be able to honor" military personnel and vets, she said, "and to be able to see the school children do this today (means) those values are being passed on."

The veterans seemed to enjoy the entertainment, the food and the chance to visit with other men and women who served in the various branches of the service in many different locations around the globe.

A baker's dozen of ladies from the Fort Morgan Senior Dancercizers group entertains the audience with their dancing set to music at the Veterans Day celebration Friday at Fort Morgan Senior Center.

Some of them spent time sharing their stories from their military careers, and others mostly wanted to tell the kids how well they sang.

Fort Morgan resident Lino M. Sierra was in the first category, talking about when he got "to stand close to Gen. Douglas MacArthur while serving in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps.

"I got to go from Japan to Korea to refuel ships," he said, also sharing that his unit helped with the tests of the United States' first hydrogen bombs.

"I loved it," Sierra said of his time in the military. "I got to see a lot of things."

He said he enjoyed the program in Fort Morgan and felt happy to have been remembered.

Fort Morgan Army veteran Jerry Wolford was in the first group, gushing about the celebration and entertainment.

"It was a very, very good program," he said. "They usually don't have one."

Fellow Fort Morgan Army veteran Howard Foster said he thought the "kids did a good job," adding that he really liked their rendition of "America the Beautiful." "They really put a lot into it."

Senior Center Advisory Board Chair Jerry Wathen said he was happy to see the program come together to honor veterans.

As things were winding down, the mayor could be heard encouraging everyone who came to remember to thank a veteran for their service -- but not only on Veterans Day.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.